With over 675,000 customer connections across New Zealand, Genesis Energy is New Zealand’s largest energy retailer, selling electricity, natural gas and LPG across the country to both homes and businesses. So it stands to reason that Genesis Energy have a crucial role to play in the creation of millions of meals in Kiwi homes every day.

But most people don’t have an emotional attachment with energy and see it as a grudge purchase - a constant battle for the category. So to help build a strong association in customers’ minds about the role that energy plays in Kiwi homes, cooking was agreed upon as the focus, brought to life by sponsoring the first ever My Kitchen Rules New Zealand (MKR).

To bring the MKR sponsorship to life, the ‘Guess the Ingredients’ interactive game was created, the broad objectives for the game being:

1. create a fun and engaging way for our audience to connect with the sponsorship 2. create an emotional engagement with the brand

Ultimately ‘Guess the Ingredients’ enjoyed massive engagement with over 140,000 game plays. It also powered substantial lead generation and database growth plus helped stimulate some of the highest sales the brand has ever experienced.

Additionally, the wider MKR sponsorship, spearheaded by the game, led to clear changes in brand perception. A survey revealed 55% of customers interviewed liked the fit between the brand and the show, and 27% of new customers have reported the campaign made them more likely to want to switch, proving that ‘Guess the Ingredients’ had really helped Genesis Energy become a brand well suited to New Zealand’s tastes.

Notably, the game harnessed dual screening behaviours in an engaging way, something it is believed significantly contributed to the association between the brand and the show becoming a resounding success.